And of the places that counted as valuable, aside from the technology monuments, there were only three.

The first was the Lizard Garden.

Nearly a thousand coolie lizard variants had been induced and bred there, possessing a great many eye-opening abilities.

The second was the testing ground.

It was an enclosed test field about the size of a football pitch, made entirely of energy-absorbing alloy as high as grade five.

Never mind the other auxiliary equipment. The cost of those materials alone was already an astronomical figure.

The third was the debate room.

There were many people inside the Academy of Sciences. Researchers alone numbered several hundred.

With so many people together, working and living side by side, all kinds of communication problems were hard to avoid.

Not to mention that many of them also had conflicting ideals.

To prevent trouble, the Academy of Sciences kept a room specially for debate.

Whenever there was a disagreement, everyone would naturally arrange to meet there and argue it out before dozens of witnesses.

“It’s five o’clock. There’s one last hour before closing. Do you want to go back anywhere for another look?”

Standing downstairs from the debate room, bathed in the rather loud discussion from above, Qi Xiaomei wiped the energy car’s seat with one hand and tilted her head to ask.

“No need. Let’s go back. The Academy of Sciences truly is a rare wonder on the wasteland!” At the word “wonder,” a gleam flashed through Su Mo’s eyes, then returned to calm.

This place had fulfilled every fantasy he had ever held about research institutions when he was establishing his territory.

Whether the experimental hardware, the supporting software, or the human care,

all of it had greatly benefited him as a lord who had not held the post for long.

If he could understand this system clearly and take it back to the wasteland for a year, Su Mo did not even dare to imagine the result.

And if, on that foundation, it developed for another eight years, what kind of spectacle would that be?

“All right then. Get on!” Patting the seat, Qi Xiaomei nodded.

Following the road they had come by, the energy car opened up to full power again and gradually headed toward the Academy’s outer edge.

On the way back Su Mo thought of nothing else and focused on enjoying the scenery along the route under the sunset.

Before long,

as the gate they had entered by slowly came into view, Su Mo finally came back to himself and sat up straight again.

“The points. I’ve already transferred them to you.” He operated the game panel, and five points moved automatically into Qi Xiaomei’s account.

But she was clearly somewhat distracted, and only came back to herself when Su Mo said it a second time.

“Fine, fine. No hurry about the points. You can pay next time you come.”

“Oh? Next time, can I still hire you as my guide?”

“You can, of course...” Halfway through the sentence, sensing something odd in Su Mo’s tone, Qi Xiaomei turned her head to look and fell silent.

More than three hours of probing. On an ordinary person she would long since have dug out his family history down to the eighteenth generation.

But with Su Mo, she had not even managed to find out where he lived, never mind anything else.

That kind of counter-reconnaissance ability was something ordinary people did not have and could not have.

Realizing that her purpose had been discovered, she paused, then changed tack. “I can sense you’re not dangerous. But rules are rules. Next time you come you can still find me. That’ll save a lot of trouble.”

“Mm? You’re still charging?” Su Mo blinked, and Qi Xiaomei was stunned for a second.

The next second she laughed heartily. “You’re really something. All right, next time this old lady won’t charge you. I’ll give it to you free...”

“Wait, why does that sound so strange?” The words had barely left her mouth when she watched Su Mo get up with easy grace and head back the way he had come. Qi Xiaomei smacked her lips with a rather unpleasant feeling.

Instinct told her Su Mo was a dangerous person. Keep contacting him and she might well get hurt.

But the curiosity rooted deep in human nature goaded her to keep exploring.

“Su Youzong, Su Youzong...”

“Hmph. Next time this old lady will definitely make you spill everything.”

She stopped the vehicle in a temper, went back to the guard post, picked up the water cup on the table and sipped from it while thinking.

But before she could even set the cup down, the lights in the room seemed to dim by a notch all at once.

At the same time, threads of faint menace came from all directions.

Instinctively she hurried to reach for her waist, but before her hand could fully settle on the gunstock, several cold voices rang out in succession and made her shudder hard.

“Qi Xiaomei, the Inspectorate is handling a case. Please abandon all pointless resistance...”

“Qi Xiaomei, Mayor’s Administration Office Investigation Order No. 335. This is the investigation order...”

“Qi Xiaomei, former platoon leader of the Seventeenth Army of the Northern Military Region. I am the director of the Northern Military Region’s special detachment office stationed in Hope City. Please cooperate with our work...”

“Qi Xiaomei, deputy director of the Western Military Region’s special detachment office stationed in Hope City. Please cooperate...”

In a clatter lasting only four or five seconds, the room of barely ten square meters was packed with people in clothes of every color, squeezed so tightly that there was no room to move.

Stared at by all those people and hearing the identities they announced,

Qi Xiaomei froze for only a few seconds, then simply raised her hands and squatted straight down on the ground.

“I surrender!”

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